Sunday, March 28, 2010

The cat was let out of the bag yesterday after a total of 185 party-list groups submitted to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday their list of nominees for the May 10 polls showing a long list of allies of President Arroyo.

Cause-oriented groups Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) and Kontra Daya said the nominees list submitted by party-list groups showed that the party-list system is being abused by the politically and economically influential.

“From the initial list of nominees, we can certainly say that the party-list system is being routinely abused by politicians, big business interests, high-ranking military officials and Arroyo allies. Comelec is partly to blame because it has allowed the party-list system to be taken advantage of over the years,” Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes Jr. said.

Among the nominees were Pampanga Rep. Mikey Arroyo, son of President Arroyo, and recently resigned Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes who was nominated by transport group 1 Utak.

Anak party-list has former Police Senior Supt. Eduardo Octaviano Jr. and infamous “euro-general” Eliseo de la Paz as the first two nominees.... MORE

An ally of President Arroyo yesterday said the recent midnight appointments of President Arroyo, which many saw as either violating the constitutional ban on appointments prior to an election or were rushed to beat the deadline, have caused widespread demoralization in the government.

Sen. Edgardo Angara questioned Malacañang’s move which he said is “causing demoralization within the bureaucracy on the eve of the transition to a new administration.”

Angara said “it is possible that President Arroyo does not even know the background of their replacements. Their appointments could have been lobbied and sponsored by padrinos. They are doing the President a great disservice.”... MORE

Not only politically would Rep. Gloria Arroyo have an Ace over the next president but also that she will have another Ace: Holding the purse strings on the budget.

A Speaker Arroyo would practically hold the next president by the neck with arms twisted at the back, with the poor guy having had to grapple with a back to back budget blowout.

The fiscal disaster seems to have been pre-arranged as a welcome gift for the next president after Gloria’s economic officials said — which sounded to most as almost like a taunt — that solving the fiscal mess Gloria is leaving would be the biggest challenge facing the new administration. But didn’t she say sometime ago that her successor would have an easy time after she leaves, because she had fixed up everything for him?.... MORE

Noynoy Aquino faces disqualification from the race, having violated the Fair Elections Act, which provides each presidential candidate with an allowable airtime limit of 120 minutes per TV channel, and 180 minutes for radio.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) pointed out that, in the case of the Liberal Party (LP) bet, he, using his personal funds and not party funds, breached the time limit, more than doubling his allotted time.

In the case of Nacionalista Party bet Manny Villar, who had also exceeded the allotted airtime limit, the Comelec official said that his political ads using his personal funds, did not exceed the airing limit, although his NP did, explaining that it was his party, the NP, paid for his ads.... MORE

03/28/2010
Sen. Vicente “Tito” Sotto will be back at the Senate in the 15th Congress. This, my friend Leina de Legazpi proclaimed with certainty when we met at the Senate Lounge last Thursday.

Sotto is a candidate for senator under the Nationalist People’s Coalition.

I asked Leina what makes her absolutely sure that Sotto would be back at the Senate. Leina said matter-of-factly: “Because Tito has earned it!”

I cannot but agree with Leina. The Filipino voter is a discerning voter, one who knows which candidate would make a good and performing senator of the Republic. So, in the same fashion that performers in the August Halls of the Senate such as Enrile, Tatad, Jinggoy Estrada, Pia Cayetano, Santiago and Serge Osmeña will be recognized and rewarded, Sotto will be recognized and rewarded by the voters on May 10, 2010..... MORE

To former Assemblyman Roger Peyuan goes the dubious distinction of being the Cabinet official with the shortest term.

Two days. The poor fellow served for a grand total of two days as director general of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda) before he was rudely yanked out of his chair, replaced with Deputy Director Pastor Guiao and shunted off to Malacañang as an assistant of Press Secretary Jun Icban.

The scuttlebutt going around is that Boboy Syjuco, Peyuan’s former boss who had to resign because he is running for congressman in Iloilo, allegedly had a hand in the embarrassment sustained by the latter.

But in all fairness to Syjuco, the decision to deny Peyuan the Tesda sinecure he has been hankering for so long wasn’t his to make, but rested solely on the shoulders of the Chief Executive.... MORE

Today begins a full week of liturgical recollection of the Paschal mystery of Jesus Christ’s opus of redeeming mankind. It features personalities who are either traitors, survivors, escapists, false messiahs and political opportunists. The Holy Week episodes are the narratives of this country and its political fate. After all, Jesus is a victim of political vengeance, accommodation and covenience. Pilate never wanted to slap the death penalty on Jesus, seeing no offense in him that deserves the capital punishment. True blue Romans are known for their justice and equity. But a political necessity prevailed over him — his political survival, since at that time Pilate’s relationship with the Roman Emperor was nothing but sour due to his inability to quell pockets of rebellion in the region, including the Zealots in Israel.

Hence, when confronted by Jesus about truth, Pilate was enthusiastic over the issue.... MORE

The following standing realities are no big secrets in the social scenery of this otherwise naturally rich country and its culturally wonderful people: One, there are more and more poor, needy and hungry Filipinos not only in urban places but also in the rural areas. Two, there are also more and more politicians whose much proclaimed plans, programs and projects are decidedly meant to redeem the people from poverty and misery. Three, there are, however, even much more poor people in the Philippines, in the same way that there are also much more politicians in the land who spare no ways nor means to land coveted public offices, to get into government power and public influence.

This phenomenon is neither funny nor mysterious, but downright revealing of a sinister truth that something very wrong has gradually but determinedly crept into the socio-political structure of Philippines society. Pitiful as it .... MORE

DAKAR — Senegal has declared slavery and the slave trade crimes against humanity, putting the emphasis on a “duty to remember” rather than seeking financial reparations.

The first of millions of slaves shipped from Africa to the Americas in the Atlantic slave trade came from the west African nation and the law passed Tuesday is the first on the continent declaring slavery a crime against humanity.

Spokesman for the justice minister, Cheikh Bamba Niang said the law did not anticipate demands for financial compensation.

Campaigns for compensation among Africans and African-Americans have often cropped up, stirring controversy over who would pay them and to whom while critics note many Africans themselves practised slavery and colluded with slave dealers.... MORE